The pointed reminder to the cameras should have had Rachel showing some amount of apprehension or at least reservation. She didn’t know that it was all an illusion, that nobody was really watching them. Apparently, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had given the boys back in the ballroom a good show.
“I think it means you two are going to have to work very hard to impress anybody this night.”
“Oh, baby,” Adam whispered. “You really shouldn’t have said that.”
Epilogue
Monday, May 26th
“And it better not be stale. You’re not passing any heat-lamp warmed pie off on me, young lady.”
Heather smiled in the face of Mr. Bavis’s dour comments. The man had becoming into the Bread Box long enough to know they didn’t even have any heat lamps. That didn’t stop him from ending his order with the same warning every Monday morning when he showed up for his ritual slice of rhubarb pie.
“I’ll make sure you get the freshest slice.” That was Heather’s traditional rejoinder, along with a wink that she knew irritated the crabby geezer. “Along with coffee from the top of the pot.”
Bavis’s jaw clicked closed as Heather managed to get her response in before he could offer up his warning about bottom of the pot coffee. The way his gaze narrowed at her near flippancy only made Heather’s grin grow. It still didn’t beat the smile Rachel wore as she shoved in the front door.
That kind of glowing happiness would have Bavis griping more than usual if he got wind of it. Hoping to avoid any unpleasantness, Heather nodded toward the back in a silent signal for Rachel to meet her in the kitchen. It didn’t take but a minute to get Bavis’s pie ready.
Serving it to him with a large glop of whip cream and a steaming cup of coffee, she paused, giving him the opportunity to warn her about canned whip cream. Then Heather assured him she’d whipped it by hand just that morning. Once all the traditions in their pre-programmed conversation had been observed, Heather turned to head back toward the kitchen, leaving Tina to keep Bavis’s cup full.
“Well, I can already tell you had a good weekend. Let me take a guess, you’re back together with Bevis and Butthead.” Heather didn’t even wait for Rachel to start in as she shoved through the kitchen’s double doors.
That dimmed Rachel’s smile as her gaze sharpened on Heather. “Don’t call them that.”
“Why not?” Heather asked. “You’ll be calling them that by the end of the week when they do whatever it is that will piss you off.”
“Boy, you’re cranky today,” Rachel grouched. She’d settled down on the stool Heather kept right next to the racks of cooling cookies just for Rachel. “Let me take a guess, you still haven’t found a replacement for GD.”
Heather shot Rachel a dirty look for that crack. “Are we going to argue today?”
Rachel appeared to consider that option before her eyes suddenly lit up on the tray of chocolate chunk cookies within arm’s reach. “Of course not. I’m a kind and sensitive person. I wouldn’t torment you with the details of just how fantastic it is to have two men totally worship you and dedicate hours to your personal pleasure.
“Why it would be rude to rattle on about how Killian goes off like a stallion in heat every time I tell him I love him. And I am not a rude person.” With that assurance given, Rachel popped a cookie into her mouth and still managed to grin while chewing.
“No, of course not.” Heather rolled her eyes before turning toward the warming oven filled with rising dough. “So did Killian go off like a stallion in heat when you told him you’d helped set up one of his best friends to be busted visiting a whore house you’ve been investigating behind their backs? Or did you just skip the confessions and cave completely into the sex?”
“We talked,” Rachel retorted, pausing with a cookie halfway to her mouth to return the hard look Heather shot her. “We did. We actually sat down and wrote out a list of rules.”
“Rules?” Heather almost laughed at that. Starting to turn the dough out onto the table to be kneaded, she cast Rachel another look. “We’re not talking about sex again, are we?”
“Like there are any rules to sex,” Rachel snorted, waving the idea away. “No, I’m talking about relationship rules, like they won’t smoother me at every turn and I’ll be more open and honest with them.”
“Honest? So you did confessed all?” Heather asked in disbelief.
“No, I didn’t tell them about Hailey’s game,” Rachel shot back indignantly before pausing to kind of shrug. “But you know, they love me and they’re just worried I might get hurt. That does kind of give them some rights to interfere when they believe I might be in trouble. I can’t really get mad at them for that, now can I?”
“It’s your life,” Heather responded evenly, though she wouldn’t have put up with that kind of arrogant behavior from a man.
Thankfully for her, she didn’t have to because there wasn’t a man around Pittsview who wanted to get bossy over a woman with a kid. Get busy with, sure. There were way too many of those types cluttering up Pittsview, which was just why Heather needed GD.
“Yes, it is,” Rachel answered, drawing Heather’s attention from her grim thoughts back to her suddenly righteous friend. “Killian and Adam love me, and I love them. We might have our issues and our friction but love—”
“Conquers all?” Heather asked, smirking at Rachel’s naïve sermon.
“Yes, it does.” Rachel had to know how she sounded, but that didn’t stop her from lifting her chin.
“Well,” Heather turned back to her dough, “I know who will be getting conquered once those two deputies realize what you got going on with Kitty and Hailey. You want to take a guess on how they’ll react?”
“No. I’m just waiting to experience it,” Rachel murmured way too smugly.
That tone had Heather pausing again to study her friend. “What did you do?”
Heather knew Rachel had done something. The truth was there in the flush that flashed across her cheeks. Going still, Rachel blinked, looking guilty as hell and searching for a good lie to cover her tracks. The best she apparently could come up with was a simple, one word retort.
“Nothing.”
“Rachel?”
“Nothing!”
That was a bold-faced lie that Heather could see right through. “You didn’t tell them anything?”
“I would never betray a friend.” There was enough indignation in that retort for Heather to believe Rachel. “You know me better than that.”
“Yeah, I do,” Heather agreed. “You might not squeal, but you would make sure everybody got caught. So what did you do? Leave some notes conveniently lying about the place?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” There went Rachel’s chin, up and out. It was a clear indication that she was not only affronted but guilty as hell. A truly offended Rachel would have gotten pissed and not gone cold, but Heather didn’t call her on it.
As far as she was concerned Hailey, Kitty, Patton, and even Rachel deserved what they got for playing stupid games with those Cattlemen. Not that she felt any great sympathy for Cole Jackson. Cole had too much charm and not enough substance in Heather’s book.
He probably did deserve the hell Hailey wanted to rain down on him. Still, that didn’t excuse Hailey’s behavior. She’d gotten involved with the cocky Cattleman and knew what she was getting into. As far as Heather saw it, Hailey didn’t have much right be complaining now.
“Besides,” Rachel pointedly turned the conversation, “I have a new, more interesting case to pursue. If I’m right, this is going to be the story of a lifetime.”
Before Heather could jump at that juicy bit of bait, Tina stuck her head in the door and called out, “Heather, Konor Dale is out here asking for you. I think he wants to put in a special order.”
“Konor Dale,” Rachel fairly purred, her grin growing big again. “Now there’s an option you should consider, given GD’s busy and all.”
“Don’t even,�
�� Heather warned Rachel. Konor Dale might be a hottie in most women’s book, but Heather only saw his one tragic flaw.
“He’s a Cattleman.”
Make that two, Heather corrected herself at Rachel’s reminder of the other reason she would never be ordering up any of Konor’s special services.
“And partnered with the sheriff.”
Which was the very reason why Heather wouldn’t have said yes if Konor even asked her to dance. That pervert, Alex Krane, had gotten to see all he was ever going to see of her naked body.
THE END
http://www.jennypenn.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I live near Charleston, SC with my biggie, my dog. I have had a slightly unconventional life. Moving almost every three years, I’ve had a range of day jobs that included everything from working for one of the world’s largest banks as an auditor to turning wrenches as an outboard repair mechanic. I’ve always regretted that we only get one life and have tried to cram as much as I can into this one.
Throughout it all, I’ve always read books, feeding my need to dream and fantasize about what could be. An avid reader since childhood, and as a latchkey kid, I’d spend hours at the library earning those shiny stars the librarian would paste up on the board after my name.
I credit my grandmother’s yearly visits as the beginning of my obsession with romances. When she’d come, she’d bring stacks of romance books, the old fashion kind that didn’t have sex in them. Imagine my shock when I went to the used bookstore and found out what really could be in a romance novel.
I’ve worked on my own stories for years and have found a particular love of erotic romances. In this genre, women are no longer confined to a stereotype and plots are no longer constrained to the rational. I love the ‘anything goes’ mentality and letting my imagination run wild.
I hope you enjoyed running with me and will consider picking up another book and coming along for another adventure.
Also by Jenny Penn
Cattleman’s Club 1: Patton’s Way
Cattleman’s Club 2: Hailey’s Game
The Cowboy’s Curse: Sweet Dreams
Sea Island Wolves 1: Mating Claire
Sea Island Wolves 2: Taming Samantha
Sea Island Wolves 3: Tasty Treats 3: Claiming Kristin
Deception
Tanner’s Angel
Jamie’s Revenge
Kansas Heat
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Penn, Jenny - Rachel's Seduction [Cattleman's Club] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 41
